Leadership

Our Dan Jones & Associates leadership team is merely part of the extraordinary 300+ Cicero Group team. Our skillsets are broad and our experience is deep, allowing us to bring a breadth and depth of capabilities to all of our client engagements.

Dr. Trent E. Kaufman

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Trent E. KaufmanChief Executive Officer

Dr. Trent Kaufman is the Chief Executive Officer of Cicero Group. In 2006, he sold to Cicero the education transformation firm he had founded five years earlier. Today, that company, Education Direction (www.eddirection.com) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cicero’s and works with over a thousand schools around the world to measurably improve student learning. Dr. Kaufman is respected globally for developing sophisticated systems to enable the use of performance data to maximize individual and team performance at organizations of varied purpose and form. He is a leading author of two best-selling books surrounding organizational transformation. Prior to becoming a leading thinker in organizational design and transformation, Dr. Kaufman’s first “career” was in public education. He began as a social studies teacher in Washington D.C. before becoming a high school principal in the Bay Area of California. Trent received a bachelor’s degree in Social Science, with an emphasis in Economics from Brigham Young University. He earned a master’s degree in Education and Leadership from the University of California, Berkeley. Trent earned a master’s degree in Policy Management and a doctorate in Performance Management from Harvard University.

Randy W. Shumway

Chairman and Partner

Randy W. ShumwayChairman and Partner

Randy Shumway founded the Cicero Group in 2001 with four people working out of a basement. At the beginning of 2017, when Randy stepped down as CEO, Cicero had grown to over 350 professionals with offices crossing the United States. In 2016, Randy was awarded Utah’s Lifetime Achievement award and was named CEO of the Year in recognition of his professional accomplishments. Randy’s vision in founding Cicero was to deliver more than mere strategic recommendations to organizations but to actually roll-up sleeves and help organizations effectively execute the ideas. During his more than 16 years at Cicero, Randy has led multiple transformation and change management engagements for Fortune 1000 clients in such sectors as High Tech, Telecommunications, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Consumer Products, and Education. Having stepped down as CEO, Randy today leads the Change Management and Transformation practice at Cicero as well as the firm’s private equity subsidiary. Randy is on the corporate board of Snowhite and of Angoss Software (TSX: ANC). He serves on two state-appointed boards – the state’s Economic Council and its Education Commission. Randy serves on multiple volunteer boards such as Southern Utah University, Utah’s Employment Taskforce, Boy Scouts of America Great Salt Lake Council, and EducationFirst. He is a prolific author in the Deseret News and in Forbes regarding effective education and economic public policy. Prior to starting Cicero, Randy was the Executive Vice President and Managing Partner at Answerthink. He started his career at Bain & Company. Randy obtained his MBA from Harvard Business School, graduating with highest academic honors (Baker Scholar).

Chad Berbert

Chad BerbertPrincipal

Chad has expertise in serving the needs of international, public sector, technology, and healthcare clients of Cicero Group. He previously served as a U.S. Diplomat, working on trade, security, and economic development initiatives. He is a Lauder Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy.

Dr. Dan Jones

Dr. Dan JonesPartner

Dr. Jones plays a leading role at Cicero Group as former CEO and Co-Founder of Dan Jones and Associates. Dr. Jones has had a distinguished and prominent career as a pollster in Utah politics for more than 50 years. He continues to leverage his expertise to assist clients across a number of industries. He received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Utah and is a former Professor and Associate Director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics.

Career Highlights:

Co-Founder and Former CEO, Dan Jones and Associates

Associate Director, Hinckley Institute of Politics

Professor, University of Utah

University of Utah, PhD

Erik Pfeiffer

Erik PfeifferResearch Director

Erik Pfeiffer is an Associate with Cicero Group. He specializes in finance, strategy, and organizational design. His major projects have included reorganizing the sales process for a sales division responsible for $1B in annual revenue, redefining the marketing strategy of a $3B medical supply company, and spearheading process development and optimization of Cicero’s education practice’s turnaround services for 1000+ public and private schools and 100+ districts. He has also been integral in Cicero Group’s own internal restructuring and growth strategy development.

Judd Nielsen

Judd NielsenAnalyst

Judd Nielsen is a Business Analyst with Cicero Group and is currently a project manager with Cicero’s public opinion polling arm, Dan Jones & Associates. He has led and contributed to projects across multiple industries, services, and sectors—in particular: Market Research,
Healthcare, Public Sector, Education, Technology and Operations Improvement. While at Cicero, Judd has helped organizations collect and organize data so that it can be utilized in market assessments, customer satisfaction research, improving marketing campaigns, and
predicting future trends in industry.

Career Highlights:

Operations Manager, Faculty Manager, Kaplan Test Prep

University of Utah, BA Political Science

Kathryn Quist

Kathryn QuistChief of Staff

Kathryn began her career in 2007 working on market research engagements for Dan Jones & Associates. After Cicero acquired Dan Jones & Associates in 2009, Kathryn’s skills in operational management, market research, and communications were quickly leveraged as she moved into roles as the Executive Assistant to the CEO, then managing operations for the BPO practice, to then become the firm’s Chief of Staff. With 10+ years at the firm, her understanding of Cicero’s long-term strategy, along with her acumen in effective communication positioned her well to now direct communications and public relations for Cicero.

Career Highlights:

Chief of Staff, Cicero Group

Operations Manager of BPO Practice

Qualitative Research Coordinator, Dan Jones & Associates

Professional Research Certification (PRC)

Digital Marketing Certificate from the University of Utah

Patricia Jones

Patricia JonesPartner

Patricia serves an important role as Senior Advisor to Cicero clients as former President and Co-Founder of Dan Jones and Associates. She is currently the CEO of the Women’s Leadership Institute and serves on the Board of Regents for the Utah System of Higher Education as well as on the board of directors for a number of Utah non-profit organizations and businesses. She served in the Utah Legislature for 14 years and was the first female leader in both the Utah House of Representatives and the Utah Senate.

Career Highlights:

Co-Founder and Former President, Dan Jones and Associates

CEO, Women’s Leadership Institute

Former State Legislator, Utah State Senate and House of Representatives